Sure, the sanctions have undermined the Iranian currency,
resulted in the expulsion of Iran's central bank from the
international system that facilitates interbank transfers, and
squeezed Iran's oil exports, the government's major revenue
source. The rial has lost about 40 percent of its value against
the dollar since December, and
is now trading on the informal market at about 20,000 rials to
the dollar. In the latest sign of the pain being inflicted on
Iran's economy, a newspaper there today reports that the
government has banned the import of 600 products.

But Mr. Netanyahu told reporters yesterday that he sees no
evidence of any impact on Iran's calculations about its
controversial nuclear program. Israel insists Tehran is seeking a nuclear
weapon, but Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes
only. (A report from the United Nations nuclear
watchdog last fall estimated that Iran stopped the bulk of its weapons-related work
around 2003, but continued some modeling and design work
until 2009.) The Israeli prime minister also indicated that he
hopes sanctions lead to regime collapse.

"The sanctions are painful, hard .. but will this bring about a
halt or a retreat in the Iranian nuclear program? Until now, it
has not happened," he said. The Iranian government "is
struggling financially and it still hasn't turned back by even
one millimeter from its nuclear program," he told reporters in Israel.

Not everyone agrees with Netanyahu, among them Ron Prosor,
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. On Friday,
Ambassador Prosor told reporters that the sanctions have a good
shot at changing Iran's behavior.

Netanyahu has consistently insisted that Iran is moving
implacably toward a nuclear weapon and characterized the
country as an existential threat to the Jewish state, leading
to speculation that he may decide to unilaterally attack Iran.

Recently there have been some hints, however, that Israeli's
defense establishment is backing away from talk about attacking
Iran, particularly as the Obama administration has
sought to cool the war talk to give sanctions a chance to
work. A story in the hawkish Jerusalem Post yesterday,
for instance, reported that "a possible military confrontation
with Iran may be postponed until 2013, senior defense officials
said in recent weeks amid growing signs that the West’s
economic crackdown on Iran is bearing fruit."

Currently the only nuclear power in the Middle East is Israel,
with a minimum of 100 warheads.